HAPPY HOLIDAZE!

MERRY CHRISTMAS BABY has always been my favorite seasonal tune.  Many have covered it, but only Charles Brown's rundown does it for me.  His voice is so cool and his playing is so smooth.  You also can't beat the audience's calls out to Charles throughout this clip. 

And I just can't get into the spirit unless I get a dose of DAN HICKS & THE CHRISTMAS JUG BAND!

FRANCO & LE TP OK JAZZ BAND

Congolese guitarist, Franco (a.k.a François Luambo Makiadi) was one of the greatest artists to come out of the African continent and was one of my favorites as well.  I first heard his music 20 years ago, when I visited the city of Nairobi.  I spent a day with my wife, just looking for local music and we came upon a small camera shop that had stacks and stacks of cassettes by various African musicians.  I'd heard Franco's tune "Mamou" on the radio while I was in Kenya and so I went looking for a recording of it.  I left that camera shop with an armload of tapes, not all by Franco - but quite a few of them were by him and his great group Le TP OK Jazz Band.  He was a pioneer of the Congolese sound.   

Franco is joined by the great Madilu System (a.k.a. Madilu Bialu Jean) on vocals on this clip.  They made great, great music together in their day.

MAMOU